Monday, November 20, 2006

That's Four!

Gosh, reading the Tulane boards this morning, I seem a little contrarian. I actually was kind of glad the Green Wave won Saturday afternoon. Sometimes the Tulane fans' blind Scelfo anger causes us to forget: no matter what your larger agenda is for the program, it always helps to win. (photo credit)

So, 10-9 over UCF is not a huge win- but it helps. The Wave has played nine games this season against programs outside of huge state football factories, and while 4-5 is not good and certainly not a goal- it isn’t terrible either. It is simply not a disgrace.

For example, and I am not putting forth as any sort of brilliant pronunciamento- but CBS has got Tulane out of the “very bad” zone to something like “could embarrass you if you don’t bring your jock” range. So, I felt good about it. Well, until McNabb went down yesterday. Then I wanted to vomit. Try to remember my grief if you choose to disagree with my post.

That being said, Hosea 10:12-13 reminds us that there is a consummation for everything, and things must “pay-off”- and man, I love Lester to death, he is the greatest narrative going (literally pathos before your eyes), but it is so very hard to watch him play quarterback anymore.

I’ve never understood the frantic calls for Lester to be allowed to run a full spread offense. I mean, what needs to happen to run the spread successfully?

-the qb has to complete nearly 60% of his passes
-the qb must execute basic throws over and over and over
-the qb must read two/three/four options quickly- and react mistake free again and again
-the qb must make a high number of throws- which means a low interception to pass ratio, particularly in the red zone, is a must


Be honest, is that really Lester?

I’m just not sure moving Ricard from a 30-attempts to a 45-attempts a game guy makes a whole lot of sense. What would those extra fifteen throws give you? Well, it would take 17-18 snaps to get there, ‘cause he’d take some sacks. He’d miss seven of the fifteen throws- so now that’s now ten total zero or negative plays. What about Tulane’s offense makes you think they could survive nearly 60% of their snaps going for zero or negative yards?

And there would be turnovers; Ricard catagorically fumbles and throws killer picks.

All this to complete a handful of ball control passes? Give up eighteen snaps in exchange for 8-of-15, 60-90 yards, one interception- and an extra punt (or two) for the probable consequence of sacks & first down incompletions? I don’t get it.